Dress pants are a surefire way to add a touch of class to your outfit. Whether you’re going on a date, into work, or even just stretching your legs out of doors, dress pants can make you feel more uplifted. Some people feel nervous about washing dress pants, especially if they come with that dreaded “dry clean only” label inside. Wondering if you can wash dress pants? Or how to wash dress pants? We’ve got you covered.
There is a good reason why people ask themselves “can you wash dress pants?” more often than something a little more obvious like “can you wash underwear?” – although whether or not you can wash sneakers is something people are often surprised by! The reason for this is that dress pants are often made of fabrics such as wool or cashmere, meaning that their care is a little more complex than when washing polyester or cotton, for example.
However, whilst a lot of dress pants will need dry cleaning, some will tolerate a home wash, too. And once you know the routine, you’ll be washing dress pants like a pro!
The easiest way to wash dress pants is similar to most laundry routines – it starts with a washing machine that you can set the temperature for.
- Check the label of your pants again – do they need dry cleaning? If so, it might be a bit risky to try and wash them at home. For dress pants where you’re good to wash at home, check the temperature allowed for washing.
- For fabrics like wool and linen, you’ll want a gentle detergent. Pick out a special wool detergent at the store.
- Set up your machine so that the temperature is really low – a cold wash is best here. Make sure the spin cycle is low, too, and if you like, you can use a laundry bag to protect your dress pants whilst washing them.
- Start your wash cycle and make a cup of coffee, get back to work, or take a long walk whilst you wait for the washing machine to do its magic.
- Once the cycle is over, take out your dress pants. If there were any stains on them, make sure they’re gone. If not, you might want to check out how to remove that kind of stain – red wine stains are different to chocolate, for example.
- Line dry your dress pants. This makes sure that the fabrics don’t get ruined in the dryer, and helps prevent wrinkles from forming.
- That’s it! Your dress pants are ready to be worn.
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Still feeling a bit hesitant about washing your dress pants? Here are some extra tips to make sure you feel confident to wash and wear those dress pants!
- Spot testing: If you’ve spotted a stain on your favourite pair of dress pants, don’t feel too disheartened. There are special stain remover products – all you have to do is spot test them in an inconspicuous place first, to make sure that the product works with the fabric of your dress pants.
- Iron after drying: Dress pants can be washed, but you might feel that something went wrong after you see them dry. It is probably because they’re not ironed yet. If you iron your dress pants straight after they’re dry, you’ll see what a world of difference a few wrinkles make!
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